The Easter period quickly became a time I resented over my years at school, entirely thanks to the academic pressure that came with GCSE's and A Levels. I was always a pretty decent student in that I always did my homework and the teacher's seemed to like me. I helped everyone and everyone with their homework, too; I was the girl everyone pestered for homework answers in form time. I seldom said no, although it ached a little to see people copying maths answers I'd spent an hour calculating the night before. There was an additional pressure to make sure I'd got everything right all the time, too, as I'd be getting myself, and my friends, in trouble.
I only ever got caught once and the teacher was very sweet about it. Dear Mr Uppal, he'd left a mathematics problem for us to calculate on the board and I copied it into my planner incorrectly. I got the answer right, but it was for the wrong question, and my friend made the exact same mistake. He jokingly told her to be more careful when copying another pupil's work. I was totally mortified, but he assured me it wasn't my fault.
My A Levels were a better time for me in that nearly all of the pupils who had spent five years relying on me either left for college or took different subjects. Furthermore, having taken history, English literature and religious studies, it became a lot more difficult for pupils to copy my work. I loved the teachers, the lesson content and even, weirdly, found joy in essay planning. Upon reflection, I realised I spent a large chunk of my sixth form years delighting in people's approval; I finally achieved the 'well known for being kind' status I'd been aiming for since year 7. It certainly wasn't the healthiest mind set to have, though it got me through the hard and stressful days.
Since a lot of my readers are currently studying for their A Levels, I thought I'd write up some advice on what helped me through those formative months. The results of these exams don't define you, but performing well certainly helps regardless of what Jeremy Clarkson tweets every year. I know how awful it can be to look back on an experience and acknowledge that you could have worked harder, and unfortunately, that feeling never leaves you. The best thing you can do for yourself is remedy how you approach similar situations in the future.
1)Take accountability. We've all had experiences with a teacher we didn't click with. That said, it used to irritate me to no end when my peers would blame their test results on their teachers. The only person stopping you from opening a book when you get home is you, and the 2-6 hour lessons you receive a week with a teacher who doesn't like you do not impact your grade as much as you argue it does. Rant over.
2) Try different revision methods. For me, I found mindmaps worked effectively when I was revising for English and flash cards worked for religious studies. For history, crying usually helped. That, and squashing all of my notes in the smallest of handwriting on A4 sheets of paper. I've seen other people utilise this method too despite it being completely unconventional.
My English revision mindmaps usually consisted of a 'story mountain' on one side of an A3 paper and miniature, character mindmaps on the other side. I used different pen colours for text quotations and literary criticism.
My character mindmap for Blanche from A Streetcar Named Desire.
My story mountain for A Duchess of Malfi.
My religious studies flashcards consisted of a combination of things: a shortened, condensed version of the two, brick-weight textbooks I was forced to read and my additional philosophy and ethics research. I always found reading my notes aloud helped me remember them better, too.
3) Prioritise the subjects and topics you're struggling with the most. During my A Levels, I found history to be the most content-heavy topic. I made a list of the chapters that I was struggling to memorise the most and timetabled them into my schedule the most frequently.
4) Speaking of schedules...make one. It doesn't have to be anything extremely organised; during half term, I mapped out everything I was going to cover day by day. By the time the Easter holiday came around, I was waking up every morning with an agenda. See below.
My Easter holiday agenda six years ago.
The time between the Easter holiday finishing and the exam period beginning is key; at that point, you should have pinpointed exactly which topics you are struggling with the most. I made a very precise timetable for my after-school revision which set an agenda for everything I was going to recap over seven weeks.
If your sixth form gives you free periods, use them properly. I used to waste the three I had during year 12 and, whilst my grades were fine, I made sure not to waste a single one during year 13. I didn't, and it paid off. I'd recommend utilising free periods for homework, leaving you all the time to revise when you get home.
5) Stay away from your phone! Thankfully, I was really good at doing this and I still am. For those of you that struggle, the app Forest is brilliant; you set a timer on your phone for up to two hours and in that time, you plant a virtual tree. If you dare to check your social media or any other app, your tree will suffer a heartbreaking death. Then you'll have to worry about a hideous, twisted brown root sticking out like a sore thumb in your virtual forest.
I've been using the app for years, usually as a measure of how long I've been writing an essay or reading a book, and I couldn't recommend it more. For those of you that don't want to make the purchase, give your phone to a family member to 'look after' for you.
6) Make time for something you love. Exam revision is extremely stressful and will take over your life, no matter how hard you try to make it not. It's crucial you find some joy. During my A Levels, I watched one episode of Gossip Girl every night. I was the only girl at school who hadn't seen it, and with my pathological need to fit in and relate to people, I had to watch the show. Thankfully, I loved it. Then I watched one episode of The O.C every night. I loved it even more, and rewatched the whole thing again after my exams ended. I tried to keep my Friday nights free of any work, opting to work through the long list of films I'd always wanted to see.
Whilst writing my dissertation, I used my relaxation time to write creatively. I have a very, very rough draft of a Cinderella pantomime on my laptop, as well as a play I submitted to the Papatango Theatre Competition. No one will ever see either of them, they're awful.
7) Remember to revise key words. This was a major issue for me in religious studies. I remember opening my exam paper and one of the essay questions asked for a critical analysis of the 'cataphatic way'; I thanked God I'd recapped the terminology the night before.
8) Practice doesn't make perfect, but it certainly helps. I wasn't in a position to practice writing essays for all my subjects every night but I did read over past exam questions. I would attempt to make lesson plans for every question without utilising my notes, which not only highlighted what I needed to recap but also prepared me for the real life exam.
For English, one of the exam questions asked us to analyse a poem we'd never seen before. I tried to read a different poem every morning in form time, annotating my thoughts like I would in the exam.
9) Change up your location. I watched an Eve Bennett video many years ago where she mentioned that studying on your bed badly impacts your sleep and your routine. Always aim for a space that has a desk or a table.
Based on whatever is on your daily agenda, I'd work in a cafe one to two days a week and take with you your laptop, textbook, stationery and relevant revision materials. If you find it's a distraction, stick to working at home, though I found it really helped me. It's probably the only way you'll get to leave the house during those formative weeks. The coffee is an added bonus.
10) Lastly...take care of yourself. Sounds awfully cheesy, but your friends are in the exact same situation as you and the chances are, they'll be happy to listen if you want or need to vent. As will your teachers, who want you to do well. Even if you're convinced they don't like you, your doing well makes them look good. They may have some revision tips up their sleeves if you ask. Reward yourself after you've revised for a few hours and remember, get lots of sleep.
I barely slept at all during my own exams. I imagine it feels great.
Good luck to any of you who have exams coming up! I hope this helps.
Lots of love,
Karisma
xxx